Yet, while those old-school Delaware establishments may be gone for good, remarkably, the DiFonzo Bakery is set to rise again – much like the steak rolls so loved by its regulars.

New owner of DiFonzo’s bakery, Anthony DiFonzo Jr. along with his father Anthony DiFonzo, Sr., original owner, and mother Angie, and John Ritchie, who will be baking at the shop reopening at a new location on 724 Du Pont Road near Elsmere at the end of the summer.JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL

For more than two years, Anthony DiFonzo Jr., a third-generation baker, has been kneading a plan to bring back the family bakery that had been a city landmark for nearly six decades.

This time, however, it won’t be in Wilmington. The former 812 N. Union St. location now houses Black Lab Breads Inc. Baker Barry Ciarrocchi and his wife Sandy have been running their business since 2005.

Instead, DiFonzo, like a devoted baker, is starting from scratch. He has found a new building near Elsmere, not too far away from the old one.

Baking is in the blood

A 1990 photo of Anthony DiFonzo Jr. removing bread from the oven at the old DiFonzo Bakery on Union Street in Wilmington. NEWS JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Like his father and his grandfather, Anthony DiFonzo Jr. grew up with flour on fingers.

His grandfather Alexander, who emigrated to the U.S. from a town near Naples, bought the Wilmington business from another baker in 1945. He learned baking from cousins in Connecticut and later honed his craft all over the East Coast.

Alexander’s son, Anthony Sr., started baking at age 11, and became acquainted with the proper feel, touch and texture of dough. Anthony Sr. took over the business when Alexander died in 1964.

Anthony Sr., in turn, taught his son Anthony Jr. the method and art of good bread. The bakery became a true family affair. Anthony’s wife Angela and daughter Constance waited on customers.

The business thrived and the DiFonzo family always touted hands were the best tools for weighing, rolling and shaping bread. Machines were used to mix ingredients, but never to make the bread.

Bread made in machines may be fast and efficient, but the DiFonzos felt it also overworked the dough and destroyed its gluten. The crust and texture didn’t seem the same as handmade bread. The DiFonzo family decided to retain its Old-World style and chose quality over quantity.

But artisanal handwork can be labor-intensive – mornings began at 4 a.m. and the heavy lifting included wrestling 400-pound batches of dough at least twice a day. The demand for DiFonzo bread, always far greater than the employees could handle, began to wear on the family.

In 1987, Anthony Sr. decided to close the business “indefinitely.” Back problems caught up with him and he needed a break. Three months later, the family missed their customers and returned, but the bakery hours changed and they no longer took advance orders.

The second wind lasted for 17 years. But by July 2004, Anthony Sr. was once again ready to call it quits. Years of baking had taken its toll on his body and shoulder surgery was required. By that time, Constance and Anthony Jr. had left the baking life for office jobs.

Although the DiFonzos again used the word “indefinitely” when closing, in 2005, they leased the Union Street business to the Ciarrocchis for Black Lab with their blessing.

The DiFonzo steak roll became nothing more than a memory.

Planning a comeback

A photograph from former DiFonzo’s bakery on Union Street waits to be hung at the new location, 724 DuPont Road, in Elsmere, Anthony DiFonzo is re-opening his father Anthony Sr.’s bakery at the end of the summer.JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL

Even though baking was in his blood, Anthony DiFonzo Jr. says, for a while, he was ready to become a civilian. He worked in banking and later at General Motors Co., until the Newport plant shut down.

“I woke up one day and found out they were closing,” he says.

DiFonzo had a desk job processing prescriptions at a New Jersey pharmacy, but the work left him bored and restless. “I began thinking ‘What the hell else can I do?’”

One of the first things DiFonzo did was hunt down former baker John Ritchie, a longtime family friend who had worked for both DiFonzo’s grandfather and father.

“He knows everything about baking. He worked for three generations of bakers,” Anthony Jr. says.

DiFonzo wasn’t sure where to find to Ritchie, but knew he liked to dance at the Blue Parrot Grill on Union Street. He left a message at the Wilmington bar for Ritchie, who almost immediately returned the phone call.

“I told him, ‘If I decide to go back in business … ,’ before I even finished, he said ‘I’m in!’” DiFonzo remembers.

Ritchie nods: “I was going crazy retired.”

“I’m ready to start right now!” he adds.

Finding a new location

Workers help brick up a wall of building being renovated for the new DiFonzo’s bakery, DiFonzo’s opened in 1945 and closed its doors in 2004 at the Union Street location. Son of original owner, Anthony DiFonzo is re-opening the bakery at a new location on 724 DuPont Road in Elsmere at the end of the summer.JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL

DiFonzo says he looked at locations in Middletown and in Sussex County. More than a year ago, he found a site that suited his needs – an old gas station off Old Du Pont Road near Elsmere.

The building needed major renovations. “It didn’t have any electricity and the water hadn’t been turned on in years,” DiFonzo says.

After months seeking various approvals and licenses, construction to make the gas station into a retail bakery began about a few weeks ago. Ovens are now being specially made for the site and DiFonzo is eyeing a late August opening, although he admits it’s an optimistic goal.

The bakery landscape has changed since DiFonzo’s closed in 2004. Customers now have more options. Supermarkets bake bread and various Panera Bread bakery-cafes have sprung up.

Bryan Sikora, a well-known Pennsylvania chef who once owned Django restaurant in Philadelphia and Talula’s Table in Kennett Square, Pa., with his former wife Aimee Olexy, is opening La Fia Bakery Market Street Bistro in downtown Wilmington. The artisanal bakery/cafe, situated on the corner of Fourth and Market streets, is expected to open later this month.

But food memories tend to be powerful and just a whiff, or even the promise, of warm-from-the-oven, crusty DiFonzo bread can trigger an ocean of emotions.

Last month, DiFonzo rummaged around his parents garage and found one of the old DiFonzo signs.

He hung it on the outside of the squat, brick building off Old DuPont Road, and it was as if the family began baking bread again.

Former customers sniffed out the location and have been strolling into the building ever since.

“Is it true? Are you really coming back?” DiFonzo says they ask.

And then, they share food memories with him.

He listens patiently. The stories usually involve a visit to DiFonzo Bakery with a grandparent who would tell their grandchild to enjoy the roll they were eating because they will never get a better one.

Or they fondly recall the slices of tomato pie and ask if its coming back.

“There is no replacement for those rolls – I have been searching for years,” writes Roseann Albence Detlefsen.

“When I was little, my Nonna would send me around the corner to get a dozen rolls,” posts Marie Gibbs Russell.

Barbara S. Woods writes “their rolls were to die for. I can still taste the warm roll with melting butter.”

DiFonzo, ready to embrace the past, says, yes, the steak rolls and tomato pies are returning.

“Everything – exact same. We’re not reinventing the wheel here. My mother will be back at the counter. My dad will be here.”

DiFonzo says there’s a camaraderie among bakers rather than competition.

“I think there’s a place for all of us,” DiFonzo says.

About Patricia Talorico

Patricia Talorico is the deputy features editor of The News Journal. She has written for USA Today and The Washington Post and been a contributor to Bon Appetit. Talorico has twice been nominated for James Beard Foundation Awards for best feature writing.

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About the author

Patricia Talorico is the deputy features editor and a restaurant critic/food writer for The News Journal. She has written about food, chefs, wine and restaurants for USA Today, The Washington Post, and USA Today's Open Air magazine, and has contributed to Bon Appetit and Food Network magazine. Talorico has twice been nominated for James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards for feature writing. Follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico; reach her by phone at (302) 324-2861; or email her at ptalorico@delawareonline.com.